Despite a loss, Ledyard didn't shy away from playing the very best (Hillhouse)
Ledyard — The interminably long offseason allowed Dave Cornish to ponder his 2017 schedule. He knew the landmines: New London (twice), Norwich Free Academy (twice), East Lyme (twice), Waterford, Xavier, Northwest Catholic …
And who’d have blamed Cornish, the head coach, if he allowed himself just one bowser to pad the win column and perhaps improve Ledyard High School’s seeding for the brutal Class L state tournament?
Instead, Cornish opted to invite 23-time state champion and third-ranked Hillhouse to Standish Gym on Wednesday night.
The Colonels actually held Hillhouse to two points in the first period and trailed by a point at halftime. Hillhouse eventually pulled away, though, and won 65-44 to break Ledyard's 10-game winning streak.
“I’m not happy with the result but I’m happy with the way we competed,” Cornish said. “I didn’t see anybody scared out there. That’s a good thing. I want to see us keep playing with that kind of fire.”
Which is one of the reasons Cornish scheduled this game. If you can do good things against Hillhouse, you can do them against anyone.
“I’m hoping that’s the way it works out.” Cornish said.
Isiah McNair led the Colonels with 14 points and Ken Turner had 10, despite sustaining a bloody nose. Trevor Hutchins had 12 rebounds, drawing some praise from Hillhouse coach Renard Sutton.
“What we talked about at halftime was rebounding,” Sutton said, later complimenting Hutchins for his tenacity underneath.
Byron Breland led the Academics with 13 points and Christian Adams had 12. Hillhouse had been the state’s No. 1 team until last week’s loss to unranked Fairfield Prep.
Cornish also had some pointed words for his team after the game. He was pleased with the effort, but not all the little things that keep coaches pacing the floors at night.
“We’re trying to block shots instead of take charges,” Cornish said. “We just can’t do those things. If we want to win a championship, ECC or state or both, we have to start doing those little things. I mean, there’s a lot we did well tonight. Trevor played very well again. We competed. But we have to start doing the little things.”
The Colonels end the regular season Monday against St. Bernard and begin play in the ECC Division I tournament next week.
m.dimauro@theday.com
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